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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

In all my research on cold process soap making, I came across a few articles about the Hot Process method, but didn't really pay much attention until...... DISASTER! Maybe not that bad, but it seemed like it at the time. I was testing a recipe for a shampoo bar when it seemed to go through all of the things you DON'T want your batch to go through. Acceleration, seizing AND ricing! (I don't think it actually did all three it just seemed like it did.) Anyways, as I was bemoaning all the oils/money that I would have to throw away, I remembered, sometimes you can save your bad batch by Hot processing it. It was worth a shot. I whipped out my crock pot turned it on and dumped in my ugly batch. I ran to the computer and read as much as I could about hot processing.
The hot process is similar to cold process except after your batch has reached 'trace' you continue heating and stirring, lots of stirring, until saponification is completed. Your heat can be double boiler, oven, or like me a crock pot. So I cooked and stirred (don't forget the stirring) my soap until it had a nice mashed potatoes look to it, then I glopped it into a mold. I was able to take it out of the mold about 3 hours later, but I left it overnight and cut it in the morning.
After all that I think I'll stick to cold process soap making, I like to pour my soap into my mold. It was fun to try something different and I might do it again one day, hopefully NOT because I'm having a disaster.

Monday, May 3, 2010

So you make this wonderfully delish smelling soap, but you can't just call it 'Bubblegum', that's so boring. What do you do? Ah ha! I'm making these beautiful soaps mainly because of my children, so lets give them each their own. Sorry Cole I know yours is pink, but you do love bubblegum any gum for that matter, and besides I'm working on a blue one. Ethan, how do you describe Ethan? He can be a little rough at the beginning but underneath he's a softy, just like a great exfoliating bar of Oatmeal & Honey. And the 'Baby Doll', Vienna, this cutie has sensitive skin and needs the mildness of a 'Castile' soap, with a little soothing Lavender thrown in. Now the only problem is I've run out of children, but not soap.
There are so many different combinations and so many that I want to try. It has become a bit of an obsession. My children now know what Lye is and they walk around that plastic pitcher like its going to jump up and bite them. My oldest son tells everyone to make sure they keep their soap in a dish that drains so it will last longer. Vienna, who's two, wants to smell, or as she says 'mell', everything. Ethan, of course, doesn't seem to care and just says 'oh, your making soap again'. The dog is the only one that doesn't seem affected, maybe that's because she doesn't have her own soap? hmmmm.....Sincerely Sadie?